Big Bend & Fla. news briefs

Body found at Econo Lodge identified

The man who was found dead in the Econo Lodge motel on North Monroe Street on Thursday morning was Isaac Grace, according to the Tallahassee Police Department. The 29-year-old man's death is being investigated as a homicide, said Officer David Northway, TPD spokesman.

A member of the motel's cleaning staff found the window of a second floor room broken about 9 a.m. and summoned police, who found Grace's body.

TPD's Homicide Unit is interviewing possible witnesses and pursuing all leads in this case. Forensic specialists are currently processing the evidence collected and are working with investigators to determine how the crime occurred.

If you have information on this case call TPD at 606-5800 or Big Bend Crime Stoppers at 574-8477.

Names of 2 dead inmates in jail explosion released

PENSACOLA - Officials have released the names of two Escambia County Jail inmates killed in an apparent gas explosion.

The county said Friday that David Paul Weinstein, 45, and Robert Earl Simmons, 54, were killed when the explosion ripped through the jail late Wednesday night.

The Florida Fire Marshall's Office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are working to determine the cause of the blast. Two inmates and a jail employee were hospitalized with more serious injuries.

Former FAU officer gets life for escort murder

WEST PALM BEACH - A former Florida Atlantic University police officer has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms for killing an escort.

A Palm Beach County judge sentenced 50-year-old Jimmy Dac Ho on Friday. The Palm Beach Post reports that he was convicted last month of first-degree murder and kidnapping.

Authorities say Ho shot 29-year-old Sheri Carter at her Boynton Beach apartment in 2011, and she died several days later. Ho was fired from his FAU job after his arrest.

Ho told detectives that he only went to the apartment out of curiosity and shot Carter accidentally when she demanded money after he backed out of a planned sexual encounter.

Prosecutors rejected claims that the shooting was an accident or self-defense. They said Ho handcuffed Carter before shooting her twice.

Jury seated in Tampa mom's murder trial

TAMPA - An eight-man, four-woman jury with four alternates was seated just after 6 p.m. Friday in the trial of a Tampa mother accused of killing her two children. Julie Schenecker is accused of killing her 16-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son in 2011. The 53-year-old is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

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Big Bend & Fla. news briefs

The man who was found dead in the Econo Lodge motel on North Monroe Street on Thursday morning was Isaac Grace, according to the Tallahassee Police Department.